Thanksgiving Fixin's: A Midsommar Night's Dream and EAM outtake
by hisviks
Summary: A Thanksgiving Fixin's Everything and More Outtake: When Eric lost his memories in Season Four, that Eric ended up in the future leaving him momentarily lost as to what had happened during the years in between. Full description inside. E/S, AU, post season 7. -NOW COMPLETE-
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is an outtake from the Everthing and More verse which is part of the Thanksgiving Fixin's (From Chapter 14 onwards). Without reading that and the other outtakes (Fangsgiwin', Into the Black and Meet Me Under the Stars) this will make little sense.**

 _ **When Eric lost his memories in Season Four, that Eric ended up in the future leaving him momentarily lost as to what had happened during the years in between. Suddenly he's confronted with a bonded mate, crazy in-laws, and a whole caboodle of kids with whom he has no idea to whom they belong… while Sookie continues to speak of a Maypole when Eric can only recognise the one that keeps rising in his pants…**_

 **As a reminder, this is post Meet Me Under the Stars which was around Christmas time where Sookie was pregnant with a new batch of babies. They have since been born and are a few weeks old and in case this has become a lost detail from EAM; as a wedding present Niall gave Pam Mab to use as her catalyst to synthesise a special reserve of NuBlood that allows them all to walk in the sun without damage.**

 **Since the winters are long and cold Northern Europe tends to have a long standing reverence for the light of summer and in particular the longest day of the year (Summer Solstice) the celebrating dates vary but I tend to stick to the actual date of June 21st and it served as a great vehicle for the telling of this story since the outtakes so far are holiday centric.**

* * *

He froze, an odd thing to do for a vampire who had only just emerged from his day rest, and at full alert he took in the strange surroundings, certain he had never been here before. Eric didn't quite know how he had arrived here which concerned him greatly even though it all seemed benign. The decor seemed in accordance with his tastes, albeit slightly more feminine. He relaxed momentarily before a jolt of terror ran through his system while his muscles slowly reanimated and he sensed a very warm presence against him. Multiple scenarios ran through his mind of how he could have allowed this to happen, never had he woken with a human by his side. That was simply asking to be staked. He hadn't awoken with anybody beside him in decades; Godric on occasion, Pam only when there was no other choice, but he had never been this careless with his own safety.

His eyes bulged when the scent suddenly filled his nostrils. _Sookie._

Well, she always had been the exception to the rule, but he wracked his brain on how the hell he could have forgotten the previous night, the night she finally succumbed to him. The vaguest recollection he had was of her anger at the revelation that he was her new landlord. She seemed anything but pliable, certainly not anything like this, wantonly rubbing her backside up against him in semi-consciousness.

His dick; however, was less concerned with the how and why and simply wanted in.

 _Fuck it._ He shrugged. _No wait, fuck her._

"Mmmm, Eric, not now."

 _Fuck no. Yes, now!_

"Eric, stop, you know we can't."

"Why?" he asked, unsure actually why he bothered while continuing to ignore her protest by finally getting his hands on her with a greedy persistence, cupping breasts and revealing that so desired bare skin.

"Your daughter is about to barrel in here," she mumbled while moving further away from him.

"Pam can go fuck herself," he growled into her ear, having closed the gained distance between them in less than a second. "Want. You. Now."

"They already caught us once," she hissed, removing herself from the bed with an angry huff and suddenly that anger assaulted his system causing him to release a very human gasp.

"We bonded?"

Sookie turned around from her position by the bathroom door, wondering what his internal confusion was regarding. "You feeling okay?" she asked with a worried look. "You look different."

That's when he noticed _she_ looked different. A little rounder, softer, something he had no complaints about, especially the extra weight on top. Still beautiful, yet strangely no older than when he last saw her, but definitely different.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, not willing to reveal a thing till he knew exactly where and how he came to be here. His dick was just going to have to behave, unfortunately.

"Remember you promised to put the Maypole up before noon, and the kids will be disappointed if they have to wait. You know how they are," she tossed over her shoulder before closing the door on him.

 _No, I really don't_. _Fuck, did she say noon? Does she think I'm suicidal?_

He stared with wonder at the framed pictures of him and Sookie on the fireplace mantle, gaping at an assortment of blonde and bright-eyed kids. He was holding up one of the larger pictures that seemed to have them all tackling Sookie's brother to the ground. He smirked at the sight. _Guess the women of Hotshot decided to put in a bid for child support. Not like he could fight that claim, even without a DNA test he's clearly their father. …Is that_ **Spike** _?_

"DADDY!"

Before the small projectile could collide into him, he had the unidentified object up in the air by her pink clad ankles, shrieking as if her life depended on it.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

"Your daughter!" she giggled from her inverted position.

"No, you're not!"

"Pinnie, stop teasing your Uncle Eric," Sookie admonished through the closed bathroom door. "You know he can smell a mile away you're not his!"

"Lemme down!" she squirmed in his hold. With a shrug, he released his hold to watch the small girl collapse to the ground head first, screaming in agony with the sudden thud onto the plush, carpeted floor.

His nostrils flared again with the sudden scent of her blood that trickled out of a scraped knee as the wound reopened due to the impact to the floor. _Why the fuck does **she** smell of Pam? _ His thumbs pulled the crying girl's lips apart, not caring for the further agony caused, and thinking only of all the punishments he would unleash on his unruly Childe for turning a teacup. He sighed with relief when he failed to find a set of fangs while she pounded her tiny fists at him. He was about to grab her and shake some sense into the unruly little girl when she suddenly popped out of his grasp.

"Eric, what the hell is wrong with you?" Sookie screamed with the sudden delivery of an extremely upset child in her arms as the rush of events were projected into her mind. She glared fiercely at him after throwing open the door with a bang. He couldn't help but be turned on; his dick rising with all the red on display, causing him to shift uncomfortably in sleep pants he never wore for a _God Damn_ reason. _What the fuck was that about?_ When she caught onto his arousal, her already red face almost exploded. "How could you?" she screamed with hurt and accusation.

"That's not Pappa," a little boy he hadn't noticed before shyly stammered with a nervous peek into the room. Another girl, looking the mirror image of the one he just dropped, with fat wet tears running down her cheeks tightly held the boy's hand, and when she stared up at the man who looked like her father, she held the most condemning face he had ever witnessed. He didn't have much time to contemplate why the disapproval on those two little faces had such an impact on him seeing as instead he was thrust harshly into the wall by Pam.

"What the FUCK did you do to my daughter?" she growled.

"Mommy said the F-word," Pinnie snickered, having already recovered from the worst of her trauma in Sookie's soothing arms.

 _Mommy? I repeat, what the fuck? I have officially arrived in the Twilight Zone._

"Don't you dare tell your father!" she exclaimed nervously to the little girl whose grin instantly widened with a maliciousness that put her mother to shame.

 _Father? Pam and Jason? Actual kids?_

"What do I get?" Pinnie demanded, holding herself in the exact determined stance he had witnessed Pam take in countless business negotiations.

"What do you want?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Pam-," Sookie started.

"Can it, Stackhouse," she growled. "You raise your kids the way you want, you respect the way I raise mine."

 _Who the fuck impregnated **my** Sookie? The fucker better be dead, or he will be soon._

"Bribing, really, Pam?" Sookie questioned with heavy dose of disapproval.

She shrugged. "Kid gets better deals from our suppliers than this one ever did," Pam said, pointing at her Maker who still remained in her choke hold, leaving him to wonder when she got to be so strong.

"I'll get you that vampire Barbie," Pam conceded while tightening her grip around Eric. A malicious smile appeared on her face as it directed itself to him. "Take your Uncle Eric's credit card."

"Yay!" Pinnie squealed with excitement before popping out of Sookie arms to drag her cousins away from the wreckage scene. Content with knowing the kids were far enough away, Pam unleashed every pent-up curse word in every single language she ever learned while he helplessly looked at Sookie who was unwilling to lend him any sympathy. _What the fuck was wrong with this picture?_

"Pam, I think that's enough," Sookie soothed when she noticed blood red tears start to leak from the corners of her eyes, anger flaring over in upset.

"How could you, Eric?" she sobbed. "Of all people, why would _you_ harm my daughter?"

Sookie still held her stern face of disapproval while he stammered to come up with an adequate response. _Why is Pam crying? Pam doesn't cry, and why can't I feel my tie to her?_

"She caught me by surprise?" he offered sheepishly

"You dropped her!" Sookie yelled. "On purpose!"

"YOU DROPPED HER?!"

"It was an accident?" he replied impishly in a way _that_ choice truth revealed it was a blatant lie that failed to convince two women who knew him all too well.

"I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you, Eric, but you better get your head out of your ass or you'll be sleeping on the couch for the next decade!" Sookie scolded before guiding Pam out of the room, letting her lean on her shoulder as they shuffled out.

"I don't know who you are anymore, Eric," Pam said between clenched teeth before exiting the room, "but I do know I don't want you anywhere near my children, ever again!"

"Come on," Sookie whispered sympathetically before tossing another angry glare his way.

"What?"

The disapproval hit him like a ton of bricks through the bond, the impact so great his recently recovered upright position was lost, and he fell with a thud back to the floor.

"She fucking attacked me first," he grumbled while getting up and rubbing at his throat, but they both ignored him. "Women."

He decided to take another look at all the pictures, trying to make sense of it all. He ran his tongue along his gums, wondering if he was even a vampire in this scenario. _That_ would make sense.

"Fangs," he confirmed to himself as they sheathed into place, forcing him to discredit the theory with a slight hint of disappointment.

"Who are you?"

 _Something I'd like to know as well._

Eric's eyebrow quirked in response, unwilling to give an answer. "Who are you?"

"Viggo Northman, but you, I mean Pappa, calls me Vigi."

The voice was small, smaller than it needed to be for a boy his age. It was the same one who had recognised him as a fraud while the adults had continued on in their ignorance. He looked him over carefully only now seeing the similarities, "You're my son?"

"I'm Eric Northman's son," he replied with a set jaw Eric himself had sported on many Fangtasia promotional images, making all doubts of paternity dissipate in an instant.

"Can you tell me about him?" Eric asked, patting his knee, and inviting the boy to come to him before clarifying, "Your father?" Viggo bit at his bottom lip momentarily the way he'd often see Sookie do before coming to sit in his lap with a visible apprehension. _Ours then._

"He's my best friend," he whispered while looking at the ground. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know," Eric confessed, feeling some remorse for the first time. Fucking Sookie was still his primary objective, but he did feel bad for the child who was suddenly without _his_ father. "We'll try to figure this out okay, so you can have your father back." _After I fuck Sookie._

"Ok," he whispered.

"Now until I figure this out, you have to tell me how your Pappa would act so we don't upset everybody else."

Viggo nodded before he very precisely started to regale exactly how this other Eric would behave.

"I have to do what?" he demanded incredulously. _What kind of **pussy** was this Eric Northman?_

The little boy furrowed his brows wondering if he hadn't pronounced something properly. So for clarity's sake he repeated the last sentence again, "You have to get down on your hands and knees and beg for forgiveness."

 _Fuck no._

* * *

 **A/N: My muse tends to be activated by visuals, usually at random when searching for pics for banners. I come across some weird stuff... stuff I wish I could erase from my brain but I find little gems now and then too, like pictures of Eric Northman in his underwear awkwardly holding a child in his arms. Apparently there's people who role play with True Blood characters in some simulation game (who am I to judge I do the same with words...) so this little giffy had my face cracking into an amused smile and it got me thinking this level of uncomfortable should have been the general reaction of Eric to a child which got me thinking of the Fixin's family and an idea was born on how an Eric before his bout of amnesia would react to sudden fatherhood. Throw in a dash of patented 'ordinary magic' and a little side tale was born.**

 **So whadya think? Still got some love for this family? More soon!**

 **Much love to msbuffy for her quick turnaround on this, she deserves all the sunshine she gets!**


	2. Chapter 2

_"I'm Eric Northman's son," he replied with a set jaw Eric himself had sported on many Fangtasia promotional images, making all doubts of paternity dissipate in an instant._

 _"Can you tell me about him?" Eric asked, patting his knee, and inviting the boy to come to him before clarifying, "Your father?" Viggo bit at his bottom lip momentarily the way he'd often see Sookie do before coming to sit in his lap with a visible apprehension._ _ **Ours then.**_

 _"He's my best friend," he whispered while looking at the ground. "Where did he go?"_

 _"I don't know," Eric confessed, feeling some remorse for the first time. Fucking Sookie was still his primary objective, but he did feel bad for the child who was suddenly without his father. "We'll try to figure this out okay, so you can have your father back."_ _ **After I fuck Sookie.**_

 _"Ok," he whispered._

 _"Now until I figure this out, you have to tell me how your Pappa would act so we don't upset everybody else."_

 _Viggo nodded before he very precisely started to regale exactly how this other Eric would behave._

 _"I have to do what?" he demanded incredulously._ _**What kind of**_ _ **pussy**_ _ **was this Eric Northman?**_

 _The little boy furrowed his brows wondering if he hadn't pronounced something properly. So for clarity's sake he repeated the last sentence again, "You have to get down on your hands and knees and beg for forgiveness."_

 _ **Fuck no.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Confession**

Sensing the approach of his very angry mother, Viggo instantly jumped off Eric's lap to scamper off. "Get changed into your costume," Sookie spoke evenly, trying hard not to project her anger at Eric at the sensitive little boy.

"Yes, Momma."

She gave a soft kiss to the crown of his head before closing the bedroom door after him. Her telepathy assuring her everyone was at a safe distance, she slammed the blood-filled bottle on the side table next to him with a glare, not even sparing him a word, and letting another wave of hostility wash over him through the bond.

 _Well, fuck you too._

"Aren't you gonna say something?" she demanded with an angry tap to her feet, arms defensively surrounding her chest.

 _Not anymore, I'm not._

 _"_ Drink that and get that Maypole up!" she ground out.

"It's up," he grinned, gesturing to the tenting in his pants that had instantly re-emerged with her anger while pulling her right onto it.

"I hate you!" she screamed before shoving against his chest, and it hurt, badly, and not in a physical sense. No, something plummeted deeply inside him to the pit of his stomach. He felt awful, really awful.

 _What the fuck?_

It had been her words, even though the tiny woman did pack a physical punch much like Pam, those three words _wounded_ him. "Sorry," he said, meaning every word of it for once. With a grimace, he opened the bottle of synthetic blood thinking that might somehow appease her. Surprisingly, the 'New Blood Special Reserve' didn't taste as dreadful as he expected, rather it vaguely reminded him of what he had once anticipated Sookie would taste like.

She was still angry with him and briefly he reconsidered Viggo's advice, but he had yet to sink that low. Knees would be staying firmly off the ground. "Just get Maypole up like you promised, and let the kids have a fun day. We'll figure this out later."

"Yeah, okay," he returned with a severe nod. "I really am sorry."

"I think that's the first time today you actually meant it," she said with a watery smile. "Just so you know, this doesn't make us okay. Whatever it is you're going through, get through it fast."

He gave another nod before she turned to the windows still covered by the heavy curtains to let the sunlight in. An angry growl erupted from deep in his throat with his most lethal enemy coming to exposure, skirting to the far edges of the room instantly.

"Come here," she said, beckoning him beside her in the sunshine. He loathed her in that moment, cruel as she was looking _that_ beautiful in the shimmering light while sending out a reconciliatory message through the bond, comfort, her intent to kiss him, and to soothe relations.

"You're a real tease, you know," he seethed while still nervously clinging to the wall in fear of any errant sunshine.

"Why are you so angry?" she huffed before yanking the last set of curtains open, leaving him nowhere to hide and causing him to curse out in panic before speeding out into the hall that was engulfed in even brighter natural light than the bedroom.

This was not the way he had expected to go, but with nowhere left to hide he took in the bright sun, blinding in its presence.

"If you drink your medicine, you don't burn," a little voice said, _Pinnie?,_ while all he could do was look on in stunned sensation that he wasn't erupting into a mass of flames. "It's a secret, we don't tell. I won't tell you're not really my Uncle Eric."

He finally managed to relax with the realisation that he was, indeed, for whatever reason, safe from the sun.

"What is _that_ little secret going to cost me?" he posed with an amused smirk to the tiny teacup who held the perfect miniature version of Pam's calculated face that always ended in severe damage to his personal finances.

Her tightly held lips quirked up with glee that her plan was working so well while she fiercely held her arms crossed in front of her body in a display of supposed authority. "I want the Vampire Barbie Secret Lair Dream House."

 _Well, at least her demands are miniature in comparison to her mother._

"Get yourself two," he grinned. "One for you and one for your sister."

"She's not my sister," she informed with a roll of her eyes.

"Cousin, whatever," Eric shrugged.

"Technically she's my aunt and my cousin."

 _We must be in Hotshot. It's the only thing that makes sense._

"Daddy Niall made us a family tree for school," Pinnie added. "Except we had to hand in another one."

 _Niall? Pam had children with the fucking Prince of the Fae? How the fuck did that happen?_

"Ordinary magic," Pinnie quipped, reading the question off his face before popping away again.

"What's wrong?" Sookie asked, severely out of breath in an effort to chase his vampire speed with her somewhat human one down the halls. "I'm worried about you."

He looked down on her and if he could breathe, she'd render him useless in that moment along with the useless heart that would forget to beat. "You're beautiful in the light of the sun."

"Eric, you see me in the sun all the ti-"

He couldn't stop himself, he had to kiss her. Perhaps he could make that work in this world where nothing made sense. She yielded with such ease in his arms, to his probing tongue and pliant mouth. Nothing like that other kiss they once shared when he thought his world would come to an end, incidentally, the only other time he had come to stand in the sun without burning up in an instant, prepared to meet true death with Russell by his side. The passion, however, was exactly the same, if not stronger, fuelled by the power of a man, or rather vampire, who just escaped the clutches of death.

Sookie inhaled greedily with panted breaths when he was forced to release her mouth, "Eric, you haven't kissed me like that since..."

"My office in Fangtasia," he grinned while tracing each and every contour in her face with his fingertips, mesmerised by the effect of the sun on it. "Moment I knew, _that_ was the exact moment I knew this was more, that you were so much more, and you knew it too."

"Yeah," she smiled shyly, her face tinted with a different kind of flush, one even more pleasing than the red rage she sported earlier. "What's with you, Eric? It's like you act as if you've never seen me in the sun, that our kids, Pam's kids, are strangers to you."

He looked at her expectant eyes and he knew this was the time to confess everything, he wasn't even sure why he was trying to hide. _Right, the prodding Maypole in my pants._

"MOMMA! THE BABIES ARE CWYING!"

With a sigh, Sookie extracted herself from his hold and the insistent Maypole poking her belly, "We'll talk later."

He nodded before she moved to make her way down the stairs. "Sookie?"

Her head turned, already down the first few steps, looking up expectantly, "Yeah?"

"I love you."

The words hung heavy in the air, it was the first time he ever uttered those words aloud and meant them in a way he never had _need_ for before. They were words he never had come to understand until _her_ and now they made all the sense in the world.

She smiled before breathily returning. "I love you too."

He watched with reverence from the top of the landing as she descended, floating down like an angel in this unknown home that seemed designed to feature the occupants at their most enticing in the natural light of the sun. A smile brighter than that once enemy in the sky graced his face as he whispered to himself with dumbfound realisation, "She loves me."

* * *

 **A/N: Still enjoying this and wanting more? And is it wrong I want a Vampire Barbie Secret Lair Dream House too… Let me know below ;)**

 **Thanks as ever to msbuffy, for the pasta sauce and the editing...**


	3. Chapter 3

_He looked at her expectant eyes and he knew this was the time to confess everything, he wasn't even sure why he was trying to hide._ _ **Right, the prodding Maypole in my pants.**_

 _"MOMMA! THE BABIES ARE CWYING!"_

 _With a sigh, Sookie extracted herself from his hold and the insistent Maypole poking her belly, "We'll talk later."_

 _He nodded before she moved to make her way down the stairs. "Sookie?"_

 _Her head turned, already down the first few steps, looking up expectantly, "Yeah?"_

 _"I love you."_

 _The words hung heavy in the air, it was the first time he ever uttered those words aloud and meant them in a way he never had_ _ **need**_ _for before. They were words he never had come to understand until_ _ **her**_ _and now they made all the sense in the world._

 _She smiled before breathily returning. "I love you too."_

 _He watched with reverence from the top of the landing as she descended, floating down like an angel in this unknown home that seemed designed to feature the occupants at their most enticing in the natural light of the sun. A smile brighter than that once enemy in the sky graced his face as he whispered to himself with dumbfound realisation, "She loves me."_

 **Chapter 3 - Yet**

"So, here?" Eric questioned, to which Viggo nodded affirmatively while mapping out the precise spot.

Eric shrugged. It was easy enough to slip the lengthy pole into the hole in the ground, splashing up a bit of water over Vigggo's rain boots with a giggle as they went. He couldn't help but smile at what was, _no, would be,_ his son. Somehow it connected him to that relationship with his finally dead Maker, and only now came to understand the pride of it. Without much communication between them and an inherent trust from Viggo, he was hoisted up on his shoulders after which Eric levitated and together they attached the alternating colourful ribbons one by one.

"All right, mate?"

Eric looked down to find the miniature version of whom he expected by the accent, and while the leather jacket didn't quite dip to the floor and the shade of hair was a more natural than platinum blonde, the resemblance was uncanny.

"Spike's?" was questioned with a raise of the brow level.

"Just Spike," he shrugged while fidgeting with his fists in the pockets of his jacket. "I hear our silence comes at a price. Like me dues now."

"You really are like your father," Eric remarked with a grin while he wondered who was mad enough to want to father a child with Spike and, worse, dress him like that. _Probably Pam._

"TAKE IT BACK!" little Spike demanded with outrage before falling to a pout, fists suddenly out by the side of his body in threat. "Nothin' like the old geezer."

"Whatever you say," Eric said with a shake of his head as he and Viggo landed on the grass. "What do you want?"

"Sleeve of Marlboro and a lighter," he beamed up with sudden greed.

"Bit, are you off your rocker?!" a far more adult version of the child demanded with his sudden appearance.

"OK," the little boy pouted. "I'll settle for Marlboro Lights."

"BIT!" Spike growled. "Get your spoiled little bum in the house! An' don't you dare breathe a word of this!"

"But, Uncle Spike!" he whined to little avail when, with a menacing glare of amber eyes and a shift of his demon visage, the little boy scampered off, defeated.

"Got any shrimp in your dimension, then?" Spike questioned Eric while he put Viggo to the ground who, in solidarity to this 'new' Eric, immediately chased after Little Spike to assure he would, indeed, keep his mouth shut.

Eric growled, towering his full height over the other vampire. "I'm not from another dimension."

"Course you're not," he mocked before shiftily glancing behind him, ensuring none of the kids were around and with a contented sigh lit a cigarette, blowing the virgin breath of smoke towards Eric, grinning with the appearance of the face of distaste. "Really thought the party of platelets could keep their little gobs shut? I'll give you two, three hours, tops, before their parents figure it out. Hope the other bits didn't defraud you of too much."

"Fuck," Eric growled. _Sookie's never going to fuck me now._

"That'll cost ya a pretty bit of dosh in this household. Your Sookie isn't all that fond of the swearing round the bits, she's been robbin` me blind, she has," Spike grumbled while flicking away a bit of ash. "So, time travel then, any witches involved? Either that or a vengeance demon," he mused aloud, "Did you piss off some bird?"

"There may have been a dead bird involved," Eric conceded begrudgingly before regaling the last of his known whereabouts that involved a circle of witches and a reanimated dead pet bird.

"Necromancers?" Spike grit out with a shared disdain. "Worst of the lot they are, always gotta pay the price in the end. Always forget that bit. Selfish tots."

"So the little Spike, he yours then?" Eric questioned when they had come to some mutual understanding with a hatred of all things magic.

"Lil` Spike?" he laughed. "Not likely, one of Pam's bits. Just named after me. Slayer's not interested in any of our own, _yet."_

"You and a Slayer?"

"Yep, decided to keep the third one I bagged," Spike beamed proudly, before amending, "Well, she decided to keep me really, after she showed up flaming mad round Christmas time screaming why I never told her I was still among the living dead. Your Christmas present that was, or, well, future you. Well nice of you."

"How considerate," Eric drawled insincerely.

"Yeah, you're not half bad most of the time…"

"But a bit of a pussy," Eric growled out in disgust.

"More of a domesticated cat, Viki."

"Don't call me Viki!"

"You'll get used to it," he teased. "Future you has."

"I sincerely doubt it," Eric returned with a glare much to Spike's amusement. "So Sookie and I?"

"Lovely bird that is, even when she's mad, got manners you don't see oft these days," Spike rambled on before a demanding scowl made him get to the point. "Yeah, you two, true love an` all that, don't know why she puts up with you. She can do so much better than you."

Spike suddenly found himself struggling to breathe the breaths he continued to always take unnecessarily with the strong chokehold on his neck as he was slammed into a tree. "SOOKIE IS MINE!"

The platinum blonde vampire struggled in his hold momentarily before, with a choice knee to the chest and an expert martial art movement, Eric was the one suddenly the one on his back. "Best not get too touchy, mate, with me or _her,_ " Spike spoke with an eerie calm. "Whatever she is, she certainly isn't _yours._ Haven't earned the right to that goddess and saint on Earth."

" _Yet_ ," Eric sighed with a hint of disappointment that the only Maypole inserted into a willing hole that day would be the one in the grassy field.

"Got it then, mate?" Spike spoke sternly before extending him an arm to get up. Eric ignored the gesture, but quickly found himself on his feet regardless. "Don't go messing with future you's relationship. Sookie's not that kind of girl."

"Yeah, she's not," Eric mumbled with disappointment and a begrudging respect. "So she organises this every year to teach the kids of my heritage?" he asked instead, wishing to change the conversation.

"HA! She really did knock the ego out of you!" Spike laughed while slapping him on the shoulder. "No, mate. This all for the faery kin, bunch of sun worshippers love celebrating the longest day of the year. Only day of the year I regret having a pretty little Slayer waiting at home for me, would love to gorge me a bit on one of those little Fae girls looking for a bit of a rough 'n tumble with your resident vamp bad boy while they're experimenting," he grinned with a curled tongue behind his teeth with a waggle of his eyebrows. "Better yet, two."

"Keep dreaming, Spike," Willa giggled, catching the tail end of their conversation as they approached the edge of the lake where Niall and the other boys were building a large wood structure for the evening bonfire.

"`Nother Daughter, mate," Spike whispered so lowly Eric had barely heard it, but thankfully in time to quickly stiffen the neck that was about to formally greet another unknown vampire in the ways of old. He looked at her awkwardly now, unsure whether to embrace her like he often would with Pam, kiss her, pat her on the back, or greet her otherwise that wouldn't give him away. _Fucking hell! Why do I have so many kids?_

It was, however, one of those other kids who saved his fumbling as she jumped into Willa's arms with a squeal. "Hiya, Eva!" Willa beamed with a soft nuzzle to her blonde hair, the prevalent nurture in her giving Eric instant confirmation of _why_ he must have turned her. With a hint of sadness, he concluded the only reason he would turn such a gentle creature was for the absence of another. _Nora was gone._

"Hep-V mate," Spike explained moments later while they walked the perimeter of the lake together for more wood under Niall's stern instructions who took the task of crafting the perfect bonfire very seriously. "You lost a lot, but you earned all of this from it too."

Eric remained quiet for a while as they piled the wood in their arms in the partial shade, till suddenly the sun started to stand a little higher in the sky illuminating Eva and Viggo's bright eyes with a startling beauty he hadn't witnessed in quite some time. "Yeah, it is," Eric agreed with the sight of 'his' two children who teetered along behind them in the distance. "It's a lot."

oOoOoOo

"Sorry I'm late," he whispered in her ear while Sookie contentedly continued to nurse the youngest of the newly arrived triplets in her arms. "I'll get the Maypole up for the kids in a second."

She beamed up at him with a joy he hadn't seen in quite some time as it was directed exclusively at him. "Thanks, honey," she whispered, jutting out her lips that demanded a chaste kiss from him, which he was more than happy to oblige. "Now why couldn't you just have acted like that this morning?"

"What do you mean this morning? I just apologised for not being here."

"I knew it! You're not well!" Sookie said with a confirmed worry. "I'm calling Dr. Ludwig!"

"I'm perfectly fine!" he denied. "The meeting ran late! It made more sense to pick up the stuff from Shreveport now instead of going back and forth twice. I sent you a text."

Her brows furrowed before pulling the mobile phone she never really looked at much from a kitchen drawer to see the unopened text message blinking at her with a startle. "Wait! If you're you…" she gasped before a sheer look of horror fell over her face. "Then who did I sleep with?"

* * *

 **A/N: *snickers* oh come on... you know this is going to be fun... and you know I love a cliffie...**

 **This lazy writer will get to your previous comments soon... well soon-ish... but I still love seeing them! It appears I'm not the only one in the market for Vampire Barbie's Secret Lair Dream House... get on it Mattel!**

 **Thanks to msbuffy for making this all spiffy again!**


	4. Chapter 4

" _Sorry I'm late," he whispered in her ear while Sookie contentedly continued to nurse the youngest of the newly arrived triplets in her arms. "I'll get the Maypole up for the kids in a second."_

 _She beamed up at him with a joy he hadn't seen in quite some time as it was directed exclusively at him. "Thanks, honey," she whispered, jutting out her lips that demanded a chaste kiss from him, which he was more than happy to oblige. "Now why couldn't you just have acted like that this morning?"_

" _What do you mean this morning? I just apologised for not being here."_

" _I knew it! You're not well!" Sookie said with a confirmed worry. "I'm calling Dr. Ludwig!"_

" _I'm perfectly fine!" he denied. "The meeting ran late! It made more sense to pick up the stuff from Shreveport now instead of going back and forth twice. I sent you a text."_

 _Her brows furrowed before pulling the mobile phone she never really looked at much from a kitchen drawer to see the unopened text message blinking at her with a startle. "Wait! If you're you…" she gasped before a sheer look of horror fell over her face. "Then who did I sleep with?"_

 **Chapter 4 - Parmesan**

"You slept with another?!" Eric roared out in fury, which caused the youngest of the babies to cry out in anguish.

"That's all it was!" Sookie retorted while sussing the baby at her breast.

"There's more to it," he spoke lowly, sensing her trepidation through the bond.

"A kiss, OK!" she admitted in exasperation. "He kissed me!"

"Where is he?" Eric demanded with another roar before their eyes locked in anguish.

"The kids!" Sookie cried out in sudden concern to a shadow of the wind as Eric had already sped out in search of them.

"Step away now," he growled at his mirror image. "Kids inside!"

"Viki, meet Viki," Spike chuckled.

"Don't call me VIKI!" the two Erics cried out simultaneously.

Spike held his hands up in supplication, pointing out, "He's harmless, mate."

"He slept with MYSookie!" Eric spat out in disgust.

"And she took pleasure in every minute of it," his younger self grinned back lasciviously.

"Mate, you really want to take on yourself?" Spike hissed in warning. "He's got a couple of years on you."

"I can take him," he spoke with the bravado of relative youth, while sizing himself up. "He's gone soft, this one. Pussy."

The last word had barely left his mouth before he was thrust into the ground causing havoc as the two vampires snarled and clawed at each other, knowing the other's weak spots with lethal accuracy though doing little to sustain damage in the other.

"Stop!" Sookie pleaded once she finally arrived along with a larger crowd that had been attracted by the sudden outburst of violence in the otherwise peaceful setting. "Niall, please!"

"Enough!" her great-grandfather bellowed out before unleashing a debilitating light ball that had them both clutching their chests in discomfort with the painful temporary paralysis. "Behave!"

"Which one's which?" Willa whispered to Sookie who felt a connection to the both of them. Frustratingly, they wore something similar. With the birth of their three new babies, she could barely remember what she was wearing, let alone Eric in his standard uniform of black wife beaters and jeans.

"I don't know," she replied carefully, eyeing them both.

"Come here, honey," one of them said with a gentle reach towards her. "Give your husband a kiss."

She smiled with recognition, and with a warm smile approached him while the other Eric looked on in confusion. He was about to protest, but a scolding glare from her put a stop to it as she continued on to the other Eric. "Come here," she beckoned with a beckoning finger, and happily he lowered his lips towards her, closing the lids of his eyes slightly before shock overtook him. "ASSHOLE!" she yelled with a well-aimed punch to the nose. "MOTHERFUCKER!"

"What'd you do that for?!" he screamed in agony, while the other Eric shimmied in behind her, suitably smug, holding her possessively around the waist to him.

"We're not married," he informed his younger self.

"Oh," he replied, rather defeated while righting his damaged nose, and only then did they notice the commotion of little voices behind them.

"Mommy!" Eva hissed with wide eyes. "You said a bad word!"

"Two," Pinnie chimed in, and her greedy eyes were already filled with the entire Mattel collection!

"Fuck a zombie!" Pam exclaimed once she finally made it through the crowd and saw two of her Maker.

"That's three, dearie," Niall said with a disapproving headshake while the kids cried out in glee!

"Thanks a lot, Sookie!" Pam accused, forgetting the mysterious appearance of an identical Eric momentarily. "You're taking them!"

"Am not," Sookie bit back aggressively. "The rule is the third, not the second!"

"If we count this morning, you're the third," she pointed out smugly.

"You paid off the kids, and _now_ it counts?" Sookie countered.

"PAMELA!" Niall yelled over the shouting match that was about to erupt. "Is this true?"

"Maybe," she whispered with a fluttering of her lashes and moving hypnotically with an exaggerated sway to her hips towards him. "Let me make it up to you, I'll make you an extra special spaghetti."

Niall's stormy eyes instantly perked up, "How special?"

"Extra, extra, special," she spoke huskily as her finger dragged along his jaw, dropping another octave, "With Parmesan."

"Parmesan?" he asked, a shiver threatening to make him weak in the knees.

"What the hell does she see in the old man?" Eric, the younger, whispered with wonder.

"Wait till you see the Maypole stir in his pants," Spike grinned. "In three, two, o-"

"Hush, you!" Sookie scolded with a light slap while the wondering vampire got an eyeful of exactly what made the Prince of the Fae so appealing to Pam, even in his old age.

"Parmesan!" Pam grinned with a triumphant grin towards Sookie.

Niall nearly choked before clearing his throat and following his wife's gaze, "Sookie, you're taking the children to Six Flags!" Her protests went unheard over the kids' triumphant cries, their long-begged-over trip coming to fruition.

oOoOoOo

Eric's face sat in a permanent crumple as he observed his fierce progeny sprinkle the grated cheese over a selection of bowls for her children with loving encouragement. _What the fuck was up with Parmesan?_ She dabbed the corner of her husband's mouth for a splodge of remnant sauce before gently planting a kiss on the recently cleaned lips as he fondled on the ties of her apron. _An apron! She's fucking wearing an apron! In a rose garden. In the fucking sun! As if she's fucking Martha Stewart!_

"So this is because of the Summer Solstice," Sookie queried for confirmation.

"Yes, yes," Niall dismissed with little interest. "Spirits roam freely as soon as the sun turns south. He'll be back where he belongs just as we light the bonfire."

"Do we get to burn him?" Little Spike asked with just a wee bit much too enthusiasm.

"If he was a witch, maybe," Niall shrugged. "It's not really an exact science."

"Can we burn a witch then?" the little boy pleaded with renewed excitement.

"Yes," the displaced Eric and Spike echoed in agreement at which Little Spike couldn't help but beam with pride, and strangely enough, Sookie seemed to be the only one to veto the idea…

"It is auspicious to do so," Niall pondered momentarily, that is, till he saw the fire brimming in Sookie at the very idea. "Maybe next year?"

"Poop," his son pouted, a look sported by several faces at the table.

"Can we go swim now?" Bran asked while shoving his emptied plate in front of him.

"Go ahead," Pam answered with little regard, which prompted three of the boys to instantly disrobe and run down to the dock with delighted squeals to plunge into the cool water, Little Spike dragging the two girls along while Viggo remained anchored to his real father.

"Pam!" the Maker, and his exaggerated anxiety she'd come to know these past years, shouted out, "They're supposed to wait an hour after eating before they swim! They could drown!"

"Stop reading those online parent message boards," she retorted with a roll of her eyes. "They feed your paranoia. If one of them drowns, I'll turn 'em," Pam shrugged with a maleficent grin.

"I always liked you when you were cold and heartless," the other Eric chimed in with pride before he found himself at the end of her deadly stare.

"I always thought I missed this Eric," she spoke coolly before boring him down with her signature vacuous gaze. "I find that I don't."

"I said I'm sorry," he grumbled in reply.

Ignoring him, she turned cheerfully to her indulgent husband, "Perhaps you should reconsider burning him?"

"He's not corporeal," Niall dismissed while pulling Pam into his lap.

"He looks pretty corporeal to me," Spike observed while scoffing down his last bite and offering his plate for another helping that was granted with an arched brow and a splat by Pam. "I should know the difference. Was non-corporeal once."

"He's bound to him, so there's two now. They'll be one as soon as the fire is high in the sky."

"You seem awfully assured everything will work out as it should," Sookie spoke with worry.

Niall shrugged, "Everything seems as it should be now. He's here, safe and sound. Novikow self-consistency theory."

"He has no memory of this," Sookie pointed out.

"Of course not," her great-grandfather scoffed in between a strawberry that Pam was feeding him, tonguing it as it went down and causing the entire group of them to grimace at the display that was bordering on the pornographic. "He's memories in a borrowed vessel, nothing more. As soon as the vessel is gone, so are these acquired memories. He might remember some sensations, but that's all."

Sookie didn't fail to see the pained look on the other Eric's face. "Eric didn't remember anything until I zapped him."

"That's good, my dear great-granddaughter, it means they were there when he's in need of them again. Just needed you to activate them. How do you think a man without a thought knew how to love you? It takes more than being just a pretty face." Pam scoffed, rather loudly, at his last statement causing Niall's eyes to twinkle with delight, "Unless you happen to be my dear wife."

"Watch the kids, honey," Sookie whispered to _her_ Eric. He nodded while she encouraged the other Eric up who was still appearing slightly forlorn to walk with her away from the immaculately decorated garden. Hired workers were still busy, placing the small candle lanterns that would light up the slowly darkening evening sky, although the promised results of Pam's overzealous party planning were already in full effect.

"You two are happy," Eric stated, something had settled in him with a determined answer to the question that had occupied him from the moment he woke. She encouraged him to sit down beside her on a stone bench allowing them both to overlook the entire the distance they could see the first of the Faery relatives coming through the portal bearing gifts.

"Yes," Sookie smiled. "It took a while to understand this was our path. On both sides."

"Is it the children? You found out you could have those with me, not Bill?"

She eyed him with a sideways glance. Her former paramour's name had not been mentioned in a very long time and it was almost odd to hear the name again, especially in the context as a rival to Eric. She found there was little left to say about him. "Bill's dead."

"Is that why-"

"No," she assured. "I saw you for you and you saw me for who I was. It's as simple as that."

"As simple as that kiss," he grinned.

"Something like that," she smiled before she took him by surprise and kissed him as if he were the man holding their oldest boy in his lap across the small lake.

"That's not simple," he replied in surprise once he dared open his eyes and saw her expecting gaze.

"It's what we are now," she grinned. "It's different, but it's good. We love, we learn, and we make plenty of mistakes along the way. It's complex, deep, and rich."

"You're happy," he repeated, understanding the warmth she was planting inside him. It had nothing to do with the idyllic scene before them with giggling, shouting children and an extensive family, it sat even deeper than that.

" _We're_ happy," she corrected while waving at the kids when they yelled to her, wanting to show off a newly-learned skill. She yelled back with encouragement before her tone fell more serious, "You'll have to wait for her. Be vulnerable, love her from afar, and wait. Love will ultimately see you far. She'll come to you when it's time."

"What do you mean _she_? We're talking about you, aren't we?"

"Sort of," Sookie said with a pat to his knee before giving it a soft squeeze. "Just trust me."

He caught her gaze; seeing the memories of the past play out in her dark eyes before confessing in a whisper, "Always have."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to msbuffy again for all that she does!**

 **For the love of all things holy don't ask me what Parmesan is code for… hope you enjoyed I'll put up the last chapter of this within the next few days. Park your thoughts and other lovely offerings in the comment/review section :)**


	5. Chapter 5

_"No," she assured. "I saw you for you and you saw me for who I was. It's as simple as that."_

 _"As simple as that kiss," he grinned._

 _"Something like that," she smiled before she took him by surprise and kissed him as if he were the man holding their oldest boy in his lap across the small lake._

 _"That's not simple," he replied in surprise once he dared open his eyes and saw her expecting gaze._

 _"It's what we are now," she grinned. "It's different, but it's good. We love, we learn, and we make plenty of mistakes along the way. It's complex, deep, and rich."_

 _"You're happy," he repeated, understanding the warmth she was planting inside him. It had nothing to do with the idyllic scene before them with giggling, shouting children and an extensive family, it sat even deeper than that._

 _"We're happy," she corrected while waving at the kids when they yelled to her, wanting to show off a newly-learned skill. She yelled back with encouragement before her tone fell more serious, "You'll have to wait for her. Be vulnerable, love her from afar, and wait. Love will ultimately see you far. She'll come to you when it's time."_

 _"What do you mean she? We're talking about you, aren't we?"_

 _"_ _Sort of," Sookie said with a pat to his knee before giving it a soft squeeze. "Just trust me."_

 _He caught her gaze; seeing the memories of the past play out in her dark eyes before confessing in a whisper, "Always have."_

 **Chapter 5 - Lucky You**

"You kissed him!"

The accusatory tone as it had been there earlier had faded somewhat, nevertheless, it was still present, and abundantly so through the bond.

"And he's wearing my swim trunks!"

"Don't start with me!" she snapped. "You did far more when there were two of me than kiss one of us."

"I took what I could get," he grinned, sensibly not revealing more of the fantasies he had entertained himself with of there being two of her and one of him. "Was hoping for a little more."

"Maybe I'll do the same," she winked before fluttering off towards the house with little apology.

"Sookie!" he yelled after her in outrage, thoroughly miffed, going completely ignored before Viggo was at his leg demanding attention instead to swim with him. Reluctantly, he followed his son to the end of the dock where Little Spike was unsuccessfully trying to push Pinnie in the water who managed to just stick out her tongue before popping away. His former self was already in the water, having been lured in by Eva whose fluttering blue eyes were all the encouragement necessary to have any adult do her bidding.

"Come to Pappa, sweetheart," Eric beckoned to his daughter while the other Eric tossed her in the air with a disconcerting amount of strength that would have him clutching at his heart had it still beat. With squeals of excitement she bonded back into the arms of the other man, ignoring the plea of her father, and instead clasping onto the identical shape, hugging him tightly with her slippery limbs.

Eva breathed out a contented sigh against his neck before looking up at the displaced figure. "I love you _too,"_ she smiled. He didn't reply, instead burrowing his nose into the crook of her neck as he held her even tighter, drowning in her scent momentarily before spinning her round, tossing, and releasing her into the water to her great delight.

 _Fuck! He's going to cry._

The younger Eric quickly splashed some water in his weepy counterpart's face that quickly erupted into a water fight instantly drawing the lines of loyalty among the children, the girls naturally going for the displaced Eric as they battled it out with sprays of water.

"Oi! The coat stays dry!" Spike complained from his observing position on the dock, and with a mere shared look between the two Erics it didn't take long, with many encouraging yells and a single form of resistance from Little Spike, that Spike found himself in the water, leather duster and all, yelling choice obscenities that could only be understood by those who spoke his accent of choice.

"Room for one more?" Niall chuckled from the side-lines in his plush, and very pink, bathrobe.

"You best not be starkers under tha`!" Spike protested. "That thing is downright unnatural and traumatisin` to the kiddies!"

"Feeling a little insecure, Spike?" the unknowing Eric grinned.

"I have a huge..." he instantly retorted defensively before several sets of enlarged children's eyes set on him causing a reconsideration of words. "Knob, peddly stick, whatever," Spike grit out with warning while the other Eric remained looking sceptical. "Don` say I didn't warn you, mate," he mumbled on with a knowing look as Niall proceeded to disrobe with little shame.

Spike couldn't help but laugh mockingly when eyes grew wide as saucers and his jaw came unhinged, giving him the perfect opportunity to extract partial revenge on one of the culprits who had dragged him into the water. "No worries, the Big Bad is here!" he yelled in triumph as he forced the vampire under the water with a spluttering of noises, and naturally Little Spike came to assist.

Spluttering obscenities in ancient Norse, he finally managed to surface, purging the inhaled water with little success till he made it to the water's edge where a worried Willa helped get the worst out of his system with encouraging taps to his back. With a gentle smile, she handed him a towel while enquiring if he was okay. With a nod, he came to sit beside the unknown vampire trying not to scrutinise her too much openly, noticing how uncomfortable it made her. Willa's presence, however, was an easy one to bear, perhaps since she was just as much an outsider as him in the large scheme of things.

"Gonna help me too, Doe Eyes?" Spike yelled from across the water in play as Niall and Pinnie chased him with far too much ease, the platinum blonde vampire obviously indulging the little girl her success of conquest.

"That is not normal," he whispered.

"Spike?" Willa questioned with a bit of surprise. "He's an acquired taste, sure, but relatively harmless."

"No," he shook his head. "Whatever that foreign object is that's attached to the Prince of the Fae's groin. If he floats on his back he'll put a submarine to shame."

Willa couldn't help but snicker a little at her flabbergasted pseudo-Maker, her voice falling even softer than normal, she shared, "There's a Jacuzzi tub at Maison Brigant that no one dares to use except the Prince and Mrs. Brigant."

Eric shuddered visibly at the possible imagery before falling uncharacteristically silent again, feeling no necessity to dominate the narrative, Willa's gentle nature seemed to illicit it in him.

"Didn't think there was ever going to be a moment that I would be dreading the onset of the night."

She turned to face him, finding his hand to hold in hers, an odd thing since with her true Maker, there barely was any physical contact beyond the night he held her to him in turning. "It's a rare gift to have this much," she agreed. "Treat it as such rather than concerning yourself with what comes next."

"That's very counterintuitive for a vampire," he grinned.

"It's what you told me when I struggled being what I became," she elaborated. "Things weren't easy for me in the beginning. I adapted, but the mentality was always lagged behind. This, though," Willa gestured, highlighting the sun on their faces that had slowly started it's decent and towards the children in the distance, "has nothing to do with being a vampire. We're more now."

"I can see why I turned you," he smiled, squeezing her hand softly. "I'll be proud to call you my Childe one day."

"Thank you," she whispered from behind a curtain of her hair.

"Has Pam ever tried persuading you to cut your hair?" he asked while tucking the veil behind her ears.

"Once or twice," she grinned. "I'm the only one who refuses to submit to her will."

"Lucky you," he laughed.

"I heard that, Northman!" Pam growled, coming to stand before them offensively. Eric knew that look well, and found that he was slightly fearful. She picked at his hair momentarily before sighing, "What was I thinking with these highlights?"

His hair had long been ancient code between the two of them, he would submit to her expertise and any existing discord would vanish with the same ease as colours interchanged. With little protest, he sat in the kitchen in a hairdressing gown while she worked on the individual strands of hair till she was content mumbling and musing as she went along. He asked appropriate questions while she rambled on about everything and nothing and by the end, all was well between the two of them.

Pinnie had already long forgiven him, but he had quickly become her favourite adult when he helped her make the floral crown that would sit upon her head the rest of the day and night while the products on his hair worked in. With a small amount of whining and pouting, the little girl was allowed to help her mother wash the other Eric's hair, causing him to suffer a few stings of shampoo to the eyes, something that any other would probably be grievously harmed for.

"Much better!" Pinnie announced when Pam tucked away the blow dryer. Clumsily, the little girl fingered some wax through his hair. "Next time we'll do pink!"

"She really is yours," Eric smiled as the little girl ran off with the announcement they would finally start the dance around the Maypole as all of the guests from Faerum had arrived.

"Of course she is!" she retorted with mild outrage. "I suffered for those babies! It was awful, Eric, the pain! I've never experienced such cruelty, not even at the hands of the Magister! That was only after months of pregnant insanity! I was crying all the time, but when I held them in my arms..." she whimpered before falling to tears again as the memories of the traumatic birthing surfaced.

 _Fuck, she's crying! Again!_

He panicked, pulling Pam into his embrace. While it was not unknown for Pam to sniffle over something once in a decade, the sight of the blubbering and unashamed sobbing was very unfamiliar to his former self. "Maybe you're pregnant again," he joked, hoping with all hopes that cracking a smile would put an end to the waterworks. However, instead of laughing along with him, her wracked frame stiffened and he swore she heated up with a sudden jolt.

"NO!" she cried out aghast before stomping off repeating the word over and over again. He followed at a careful distance as she grumbled about burning a certain witch named Niall Brigant before she came to stand before Sookie with an angry glare.

"You knew and didn't tell me!" she growled out.

A guilty look sat on Sookie's face before she gave a brief nod. Her telepathy had identified her altered state with ease now that she actually had experienced it once before, and an informing look from Niall had told her enough to keep this quiet from the vampiress in question, experience had taught her enough not to interfere in their relationship despite her opinions.

"I'll kill him!"

oOoOoOo

"You could stand to be a bit more like him."

"Really?" he questioned while placing the pillows back in place. A complete replacement of all the sheets on the bed were a non-negotiated fact that both had automatically seen to as soon as they entered their bedroom despite the long day and night of celebrations.

"Well, a bit," she offered conciliatorily when she noticed his pensive look. "He knew how to be fun with the kids. He was as you were without memories, playing in the water yelling about those ancient sea gods of yours."

"I'm fun!"

"Of course you are," she smiled before kissing him softly on her tippy toes. "You're also responsible." He growled before being silenced with another kiss. "It's what I love about you," she assured. "It's good to let go now and then too."

"Like kissing another vampire," he grumbled.

"He's not another, he's a part of you!"

She'd expected to see another scowl grace his stupidly handsome face; however, she found a smug grin in its place instead. "So you admit you loved me before I loved you."

She rolled her eyes, "Everything is just a competition with you, isn't it? No, I didn't love you then, you were an ass coming to my home claiming me as yours as if I was part of the furniture!"

"You need to get mad more often," he spoke huskily while he relished in the raw passion on display. "Loved it then, love it even more now."

"Argh!" Sookie yelled in frustration before tossing a pair of pyjama bottoms to his face that only amused him more. "What I was trying to say..." She took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone. "I could have loved you then."

"You win then," he conceded with a kiss and a playful squeeze of her ass. "I was obviously already lost to you."

"Don't you forget it," she beamed with triumph before her face fell sad again. "Where do you think he is now?"

The melancholic look had flitted on her face several times that night. From the moment his collected memories in a corporeal vessel had simply dissipated with the setting of the sun, she assumed no one was looking, but he always was.

"I know exactly where he is," Eric offered while settling in the bed beside her. "I remember now." He was quiet for a long time before his tone fell into one of confession, "When I had that bad dream while without my memories I dreamed of this, of us, of our family and I woke up having nothing, only knowing there was a woman I adored and I had done nothing but hurt before. I loved you then, probably well before that too, but I knew it with a certainty and I knew to wait."

"All this time?" she whispered with tears staining her eyes with the realisation. "You waited all that time because I told you to in a dream?"

"No," he assured, pulling her to him just as he had then and easing the tears that flowed with simplicity. "It was a dream, the memories vague mixed with my past, with Godric, but like Niall said, I remembered the sensations. I knew to wait and you would come to me eventually."

The tears were wiped from her eyes as she smiled up at him. "And I did."

"Lucky me," he grinned.

"No," she whispered with a small shake to her head. "Lucky us."

* * *

 **A/N: Much thanks to msbuffy with her editing and encouragement on this, she really is the best!**

 **I know you all were all very sympathetic to past Eric, hoping he'd catch a bone somewhere but he does… it just takes a while… *snickers* I did genuinely feel bad for turning Eric into an overbearing father during the course of EAM and its outtakes but even when his past-self stepped into the future it seems those little hybrids can work their magic lickity splick quick… Anyhow I hoped you enjoyed this little outtake and its conclusion. I think I vowed with the last one that I was done but if inspiration ever strikes again, who knows…**

 **For those of you following my other stories: It'll be quiet from me in terms of updates on all my stories until at least mid-August 2015 due to holidays and real life things. I might toss something random out now and then but don't count on it too much.**

 **Thoughts welcome as ever ;)**


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